Flash of Genius: Pantene #ShineStrong

ByHoma Zaryouni ·

5 May 2014

Genius in our Digital IQ Index: Hair Care & Color Pantene made a commercial that went viral in December 2013 with more than 46 million views. Originally aired in the Philippines, the ad shows how men and women are labeled differently for similar actions. For example, a woman taking care of her appearance is called “vain” whereas a man doing the same is considered “neat.”

In this L2 video, Head of Research Maureen Mullen speaks about lessons learned from Pantene’s success with viral video. She called the clip a fantastic piece that inspires discussion and hits home with Pantene’s target demographic. And the ad’s Philippines origin is a testament to how social platform can build a global audience for great creative.

Mullen said the first step to making a viral video is recognizing what will resonate with an audience, and supporting it with great media optimization. In this case, Sheryl Sandberg boosted views for the #ShineStrong video by posting it on her Facebook wall.